Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus
Artistic director, performer, conductor, teacher. Her first step into the profession was the Vitebsk Music College in the balalaika class (1962), the next was the Belarusian State Conservatory, from which Tamara Shafranova graduated in 1971 with two degrees.: balalaika (class of N.V. Proshko) and conducting (class of S.L. Ratner). As a 3rd year student (1969), she was invited to play in the Balalaika octet as part of the teachers of the Conservatory and the music school, headed by the famous musician, conductor and teacher Georgy Zhikharev in Belarus.
After graduating from the Conservatory, she taught balalaika and conducting classes at the Vitebsk Music College. She led the student orchestra of Russian folk instruments from 1971 to 1992.
In 1973, Tamara Shafranova became the organizer and inspirer of a unique band, the Balalaika octet. A year later, the octet became the winner of the First Republican Variety Artists Competition (1974, Minsk) and won the first prize at the V All-Union Variety Artists Competition in Moscow (among the Belarusian collectives, only the Pesnyary ensemble was among the laureates of the competition). The All-Union company "Melody" has released an octet record. For this victory and her active concert activity, Tamara Shafranova was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the BSSR (1975). Since 1989, she has been working with the Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tamara Shafranova has devoted more than 40 years to the stage – as a performer in the octet of Prima's first balalaika (1973-2000), as a conductor of the orchestra of Russian folk instruments (1971-1992) and as the head of the octet (since 1973) – these are the milestones of Tamara Alexandrovna's creative path.
As a teacher, Tamara Shafranova has educated a number of laureates of national and international competitions. Among her students are Honored Artist of Russia Igor Talashov, laureate of international competitions Alexey Kleshchenko, creator of the Impromptu ensemble popular in Korea, Lyudmila Shcherbina, soloist of the Balalaika octet of the Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic.
Tamara Alexandrovna Shafranova was repeatedly awarded Honorary diplomas by the Ministry of Culture of the USSR and the Republic of Belarus, and was awarded the title "Person of the Year of Vitebsk region-2008, 2013".